Js and Cigarettes //JJ MAYBANK//

1.7

Yeah you're aggressive

The way you throw your body in my arms girl

Obsessive, Chase Atlantic

I sat beside JJ in the back of the twinkie as John B drove down the road. 

"I mean, it's obvious, right?" John B spoke. "A family heirloom. What better place to hide a message? He had to know it was gonna get back to me, right?" 

"Yeah." Kie replied, nodding her head after glancing at us over her shoulder. "It's possible." 

"It could also be possible that you're concocting wild theories to help, you know, deal with your sad feels." Pope looked up from the compass to stare at my brother. 

"Pope?" John B gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. 

"Bro, you know how I process my sad feels?" JJ asked everyone. He glanced down at me and ran his fingers through my hair. "Dank nugs and the stickiest of ickies. Also Blakes' ass. That's how I do it." 

"I'm not concocting alright? My dad's trying to give me a message. And JJ, enough about ABCs ass, bro." 

"If it helps you believe, John B." I said, kicking the back of his seat. "What message, by the way?"

"Look, I-I don't need a therapy session, okay? I'm not trippin' out."

"It's okay to trip, bro, but--" JJ spoke up

"Look, my--our dad is missing, okay? Missing. You don't know what it's like to have the person closest to you vanish, and then have no idea what happened. Just...wake up every morning, wondering."

"It's been almost a year." Kie said to him. 

"Hey, he could have been kidnapped. That's definitely a possibility." JJ said, trying to break the tension. 

"Yeah, he could be in a Soviet sub getting interrogated by the KBG somewhere." Pope agreed, messing with his baseball cap. 

"Absolutely. Or uh...Atlantis..." I bit my lip, trying not to laugh for John B's sake. 

"Blake..." Kie said softly. "Look, what do you think the message is?" She looked back at John B. 

"Redfield." John B said, "Redfield Lighthouse. Dad's favorite place."

He pulled to a stop along the white picket fence surrounding the lighthouse and we all got out. JJ slung his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close, laying his chin along the shoulder closest to him. 

"Right. Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna post up and look for bogeys, okay?" John B turned from the lighthouse and pointed at JJ and I. 

"Wait...why me?" JJ asked, looking over at Kie and Pope. 

"Because you're not coming." Pope replied, bluntly. 

"Why?" I asked. 

"Because there are independent and dependent variables. And you're both independent variables." Pope said, looking between JJ and I. "We don't know what you'll do." 

"Oh shut up!" JJ shouted as he and Pope started raising their voices at each other. 

"Listen to me for a second!" John B said, adjusting his hat before continuing. "Pope, you stand lookout with JJ and Blake, okay? If we get split up we meet back at JJ's house." He looked over at Kie. 

"Great." She agreed, glancing at me and smirking. 

"Well, I'm gonna work on my merit scholarship essay." Pope started, "and I'm trying to keep felonies down to a minimum." 

"Alright, would you just shut up already?" JJ asked him, taking a hackey sack out of his pocket and starting to kick it with his feet. 

"I'm gonna go sit over here." I told them, opening the back door of the twinkie and sitting down. 

"Oh, yeah...me too." JJ said, glancing over at Pope. 

I laughed a little. 

"You're whipped bro." Pope laughed, shaking his head. 

"Pft, nah. I'm not." JJ said, sitting beside me and pulling my legs onto his lap. 

A few minutes later, there were sirens and JJ hopped up, jumping into the front seat with Pope right behind. I slammed the side door closed and JJ pulled out of the grass parking space and we headed away. 

"He said to meet at your house, right?" I asked, leaning forward between the two seats. 

"He sure did. Better hope Luke isn't home, yeah?" JJ nodded at me. 

"I mean, if he's home I'll throw hands with him." I grinned at JJ, causing him to roll his eyes and laugh a little. 

I'm sitting with JJ and Pope at the docks when John B pulls up in the twinkie after we left it at home. 

He honks at us and gestures for us to get in.

"This better be worth it." I said, getting in and sitting in the back by Pope. 

"It's worth it." John B tells me. "You didn't cover the hickeys." 

"Who cares." I roll my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest and grumbling to myself. 

John B laughs and drives down the road towards The Wreck, the Carrera family's restaurant. 

John B parks and looks back at Pope. 

"I'll go get her." I said, interrupting whatever my brother was about to say. I head inside and spot Kie's curly hair right away. 

"Kie, let's go, John B needs us for something." I say, leaning against the counter. "Hi mama. Hey daddy." 

"Hi, baby." Our mom smiles back at me. 

"I'm not coming with." Kie told me, handing me a sandwich. 

"Why not?" I ask her, biting into it. "Thank you, it's really good." 

"I'm just not in the mood tonight." Kie shrugged. 

"Alright, I'll go tell the boys, I guess." I frown, kissing her on the cheek before heading outside. 

"She said she's not coming." I tell them, shrugging and heading down the steps. 

"Why not? What did you do to her, John B?" JJ asks, looking over at John B.

"What? Nothing. I'll talk to her." John B replies, getting out of the van and heading inside. 

I laugh and head back over to sit in the backseat when JJ climbs back to steal my sandwich. 

"Mhmm, thanks babe." He moans, biting into my food. 

"What the fuck."